Method of forming ingots.



J, T. JONES. METHOD OF FORMING INGOTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10, 1908.

avwmlfoz abtoznug PATENTEDJUNE 9, 1908.

UNITE srarns "PATENT 1 ornron.

OHN T. JONES, or IRON MOUNTAIN, MIomeAN, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF TO GEORGE sr. CLAIR, or DULUTH, MrNNEsorA.

METHOD OF FORMING rNGo'rs.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 9, recs.

Applicationfiled. March 10, 1908. Serial No. 426,273.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, JOHN T. JONES, citizen ofthe United States, residing at Iron Mountain, in the county of Dickinson and State of Michigamhave inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Methods of" Forming Ingots,- of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvedmethod of forming ingots, either wrought iron or steel, preferably of large dimensions,

say ten to twentytons in weight which maybe employed for the production of large articles of manufacture, such, forexample, as armor plates, rails, Lbeams, etc, or melt.- ed down forpther forms of product. i

In carrying out my invention I mold 'a sufficiently large mass of-firon orev into a,

preferably, cylindrical block with which is incorporated a binder, the block being formed wit 1 passages through it, and

dened, and while confined against access thereto .of oxygen, tothereducing action ofhot' reducing gases.

'In the accompanyin drawing I show, in

Figure 1, a block or .cy inder of the ore as I I prefer to form it; and in Fig. '2, a" furnace structure, of one improved form in which the Operation of reducing the metallic oxid con- .stituents of the ore may be carried on to prosufficiently large mass of the crude 'ore and duce the completed ingots.-.

In carrying out my invention I take a mix therewith a suitable cementitious material, which, for example, may be hydraulic cement or quicklime, and mold the mass; un.

der hydraulic or other reat pressure, into a preferably cylindrical lock 1. The block or cylinder 1 has a central passage through it, 2, from. which extend assages 3 to the Outer surface of the cylind ar. A block of a diameter of three feet would be formed with a central passage 2, say one foot in diameter,

the latera ly extending passa es 3 being much smaller. When molded to s liape'the blocks or. cylinders are caused to harden and become perfectly dry." r

' For the further 0 eration or com letion of the ingot I provice a-staclr 4 0 suitable height and of a diameter capable .of receiving .the blocks stacked end to end one upon the other as indicated in the sectional elevational view shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. Theinsubject the block, after it has become sufficiently harternal diameter of the stack 4 should be somewhat in excess of the external diameter of the blocks 1 to leave an annular passage 5' between them. Communicatlng with the lower part of the'interior of the stack is a pdafsage -6 "leading from a furnace 7; The nace 7 may be Of anydesired form for the production of reducing gas in the desired volume and at the desired temperature. The furnace is fitted with one or more twyers 8 at which pressurefiis introducedto promote combustion in the furnace -7 and expel the generated, reducing sage 6 and stack 4. t the to O the stack 4 is a hinged outer valve 9 capa le of manipulation for opening and closing the annular gases th-rou h-the pas-' space 5', which. intervenes between the inf serted blocks 1 and wall of the stack 4. Another valve carries a hinged ortion 10 capable'of closing over theto o the opening 2 throughflthe column of locks. \Thus the outlet for the. draft from the furnace through thestack may becontrolledto an extent sufficient to direct it more or-less uniformly through the passages 2 and 5. I

In' practice, the reducing gases'are' delivered into the stack. 4 at a temperature suffiient to deoxi'dize the iron constituent of the ore and render it sufficiently'plastic to agglornerate as metal. The hot gases work from the passage 2 outward into the blocks and from'the passage 5 inward into the blocks to effect deoxidation Of the metallic oxids, and the operation should be suifi' articles agglomerate into a more or less oney-comb structure to which the slag making constituents adhere.

, In the accompanying drawing, I have shown, no means for withdrawing the blocks,

when reduced, from the lower part of the furnaee, though such means are contemplated, To ermit the blocks to be readily separated anc lifted out of the furnace, when reduced, disks 11 of silicious or other refractory material may be placed between the blocks,

the disks corresponding in. diameter with the;

diameter of the blocks and having 'centralf 5 metallio'oxid constituents of the blocks arev gractically all'reduced to metal, though.suf-' remain to aid in cient metallic oxids may fluxing the other slag making ingredientsfin the after treatment of the ingots; When the ingots, as I have termed them, arewithdrawn from the. furnace they may; for example, be placed ina heating furnace and'there subjected to a weldingtemperaturewhich 'Will freethe slag making ingredients, and permit the latter, for the most part, to'be' eliminated #by the common methods of squeezing and 'rolling.

-byLetters Patent -1s- 1. The method offorming an ingot which consists in moldin What- I claim as new and desire to secure' tiousbirideninto a bloek, drying and hat "a sufiiciently large mass of ore, with which is" incorporated a cementiblock to the reducing action ofhot reducing ents of. the 0re,-and cause the reduced metal constituent to agglomerate Within the block.

2. The method of forming an ingot which consists in molding a su iiiciently large mass of ore, with which is incorporated a cementitious binder, into a block formed'with a gas passa ethrough it, drying and hardening theblock and then subjecting the block to the reducing action of a hot reducing gas,to deoxidize the metallic oxide. Without first disintegrating the slag making constituents- 'of the ore, and cause the reduced metal con stituent 'to' agglomerate'wit hin the block.

In testimony whereof I affix'fmy signature in pr'esence of two. itnesses.

l JOHN T. JONES.

,witnessesz' J. W. DYRENF RTH,

- FRANCiS M. PHELPs,

25 gas, .to deoxidize the metallic oXids'Without first disintegrating the slag making c0nst1tu 

